Wedding Dash
by arkmj
Summary: It's her special day, where everything is perfect with tradition and normal. What's lacking?
1. Tradition

_Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or any characters featured in either of the seasons._

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Wedding Dash

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"Boo you ok?" Cindy asked as she walked into the small changing room. Her hair was in its natural curly look, make-up done beautifully and was dressed in a beautiful, yet simple champagne colored dress. Max looked at her best friend from the mirror and then looked away to stare at her reflection. "Max?"

"Yeah, just nervous…I guess." She muttered still staring at her self. Why aren't I happy or excited? Why do I feel like something so important is missing? Looking to her left, Max stared at the dress hanging there. It was the perfect princess dress. Brilliantly white with beautiful lace and pearls adorning the bodice and skirt. The sleeves were made of lace, ending at her wrists, and the skirt was full and long with a train that would follow her for several feet. Next to the dress her veil hung beautiful with all the pearls dancing across the netting and the lace hanging delicately on the bottom. Like the dress, it too would follow her for several feet, completing the entire "Princess" setting. Looking back to the mirror Max stared at her reflection. Her hair was down with its natural curl framing her face. A light gloss shimmered in the light on her lips, and hint of rouge accentuated her cheeks. O.C. had insisted that makeup wasn't needed for her, and frankly she had agreed.

"Boo, what's wrong?" Cindy asked after she closed the door. Something wasn't right. "What happened last night?" Last night, what was causing everything to be the way it was right now. Alec. Last night.

"Alec came to talk to me about today. He thought I should know something before my 'big important day'." Max mimicked the smart aleck with little inflection of her speech.

"And?"

"He said that Logan was cheating on me…with Asha." Why didn't it hurt to think about it? Why didn't it hurt when she had been told?

"Boo…" Cindy didn't know what to say.

"The thing is…I don't think I really care anymore." Max said as she fingered the choker around her neck. It was a Cale family heirloom. All the women wore it on their wedding day, brought them good luck. Max felt her-self wanting to snort at that. Slowly moving away from the choker she fingered the soft silk of the slip she was wearing. It had thin straps holding it up. The front dipped enticingly over the swell of her breasts with a little lining of lace at the top. The rest of it loosely fit to her tiny, curvy form and ended just under her butt. On each side of her legs, tiny slits were cut out. Why there were slits on the sides she didn't know. Why she was wearing it she didn't know that either. She didn't understand the point of it, but the women of Logan's family had insisted a bride was to wear a slip under her dress. It was tradition.

"Are you ok? Do you want to leave?" Cindy watched as several emotions passed over her best friend's face. Max seemed lost, in so many ways.

"I feel like I'm not me anymore. I feel like I'm what I'm expected to be." She whispered barely loud enough for the other woman hear. Cindy walked up behind Max and wrapped her arms around her shoulder and hugged her tightly. Max was like a rag doll, no response. Knock Knock "Who is it?" Cindy called out.

"It's me," the voice responded, a voice that belonged to one certain groom-to-be.

"What do ya want?" Cindy asked.

"Is Max in there?" Logan asked from behind the door.

"Yeah, why?" Cindy asked again.

"Can I come in?"

"Fool as big as your family has been about tradition, you are quick to through it away. No you can't come it, go away." Cindy ordered.

"I need to talk to Max-"

"Later!" Cindy ordered. Distinctive footsteps could be heard walking away. Max never said a word, or moved. Knock Knock "Logan go away!" Cindy yelled walking over the door and opening it enough to chew someone's head off.

"I'm offended O.C.," a light response came to the hot headed woman, "can I talk to Max?"

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_Tell me what you think!_


	2. Why

_Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or any characters featured in either of the seasons._

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Wedding Dash

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"Come in," Max said from the mirror, before O.C. could scare him off. When Alec walked in, Max immediately shifted her attention to her fellow transgenic. He was dressed in a simple black suit with a black button down shirt underneath. The top few buttons weren't buttoned, giving her a hint of skin to view. His hair was tousled like he had just rolled out of bed, and itching to have hands run through it. 'Where did that thought come from?'

"Cindy, can you give us a moment?" Alec asked staring at Max. Cindy looked between the two before keeping her eyes on her best friend. When Max nodded her head slightly, Cindy walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her. "Nice dress Maxie." He said nodding her slip, expecting her to immediately cover her self up or say something snarky to him. Max didn't turn around, just stared at him from the mirror, and he reciprocated the action.

"Alec why are you here? To protest the wedding?" She asked finally. Alec smirked slightly and looked down at the floor.

"No, I came to support you, know matter what." Looking up again he stared into her soul, "no matter what Maxie, I'll always be there for you. But-" He forgot everything he was going to say. Max didn't say anything or move. "I know you probably hate me for last night, but I wanted you to know. And since you obviously don't believe me I figured I had one last chance to show you what I meant." With that he walked over the tiny television in the fare corner and turned it on. When the screen flicked on, the two were assaulted with continuous grunts and moans. Alec slowly moved away from the corner to stand behind the little love seat that was in front of the set. The sight before them was Logan and Asha fucking each other like rabbits, or as close as to doing that Logan could get. He was the 'take it slow and steady' type of guy. Not that that was bad, but when she was horny and wanting she wanted to be taken hard and fast, not sweet and slow.

Walking away from the mirror, Max stood in front of the little sofa that sat in front of the T.V. Alec had by now walked away from the T.V. and stood behind her, not sure what she was going to do next. 'Why don't I feel my heart breaking in pieces? Why aren't my ears ringing with their grunts of a quick fuck?' When Max made no real response to the scene, Alec started to slowly walk up to her until he was directly behind her, but not touching her. She could feel the heat radiate off of him and noticed that her attention was more on him than on her finance screwing his co-worker. 'He smells so good, he always does. Why don't I care about Logan?' Thinking those last thoughts Max turned and stared at Alec, for once he didn't hold his Manticore mask on. Instead all his emotions were wore on his face, in his eyes. "Maxie?" He whispered not sure what to expect, was she going to hit him and blow him off or was she going to become emotional? Max just watched and confusion came over his face.

"Logan, please!" Asha begged, Logan just continued on his slow steady pace. Both too busy in their own worlds to hear all the commotion outside the Groom's Room door, where guests were being surprised.

"Maxie?" Alec questioned as Max suddenly blurred around him and out the Bride's Room door. Following her he was surprised when he found walking very calmly down the aisle, still dressed in nothing but that little slip, guests who had already arrived where murmuring, while women of Logan's family where jumping up and yelling for Max to cover herself, but she didn't listen. Which wasn't anything out of the ordinary for Max. standing at the end of the aisle he watched as she walked down the aisle, to the alter, turning sharply to the right and swinging the door to where Logan should be open. Squeals and shouts of shock emitted through the church. This caused more commotion and people got up only to find and half dressed Logan Cale racing after Max who just walked away back the way she came. Logan was trying to keep up with her but kept tripping on the couch coverlet. It was very comical to Alec, who was laughing his ass off with O.C. standing next to him who handed her bouquet and was waiting for Mr. Cale with her hip cocked and her hands on those hips.

"Logan, I've been wanting to do this for a long time," O.C. greeted after Max passed her and Logan reached her. With that said she reared her fist back and punched Logan square in the nose. "You don't mess with Original Cindy's boo, ever!" Alec continued to laugh as Asha came out of the room dressed messily in her clothes, blushing head to toe as stares were directed to her. Alec covered his mouth still enjoying the site before him. Turning to go find Max, he found her right behind him with a small smirk on her face at the site before them.

Max was still dressed in her little slip but had pulled her biker boots on and her leather jacket, "get me out of here?" She cocked her head to the side, smiling he nodded and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked with her out the double wooden doors to the front where his bike was parked, in case Max had believed him and decided to leave before or during the wedding.

Half expecting her to demand to drive Alec let her walk ahead of him so she claim the driving spot, but instead she waited near the tail end and looked at him. He was still kind of hesitant to close to her, she was so calm and collective acting, it kind of scared him. Straddling the bike and waiting for her climb on, Alec gunned the engine just as Logan broke from the double doors and started yelling for Max to stop. Her only response was to wrap her arms securely around Alec's waist and lean into his back.

After leaving the church, Alec just whizzed through the streets for awhile, knowing that riding always had a calming effect on Max. After an hour of riding he road back to his apartment and they walked up silently to it. When he grabbed her a t-shirt and some boxers of his, she smiled a genuine smile at him when she took the clothes from him and went to change in his bathroom. This gave Alec a chance to change from the suit into some jeans and a white undershirt. By time he was done Max was curled up on his couch with a case of beers on the table, she was just opening one when he walked around to face her. "I need a drink," she offered him the cool bottle before opening another and taking a long swig from it.

"So," he said simply.

"So," she replied back, "you're probably wondering what I'm doing." She stated as she uncurled

Taking a swig of his own, Alec replied, "no, no I'm not. I'm actually wondering 'why' more than 'what' to tell you the truth. I mean last night I tell you about Loggie bear and Asha and you were hard core against it." Walking over to the table he moved the case to the floor and sat on the table, facing her. "this morning I come to see you and you don't say a word to me as I show you the tape. Instead you go up and down the aisle in that little slip calm and collected. You aren't yelling, or hitting me and acting nonchalant. So what I am wondering is why?" Max stared at him for a few pregnant pauses of silence before uncurling herself from the couch and sitting up with her feet on the ground, between Alec's much larger ones. Leaning forward against her knees, letting the bottle hand from her hand.

"Why you were telling me last night, all I could think about is why wasn't I upset? I mean truly upset. I wasn't feeling my heart break or anything. Then today I wasn't excited, I was thinking how the dress was ugly, the people were snobby and I couldn't wait to get dressed in some real clothes and go have a beer. When you showed up, I was happy you were there. When you showed the tape me the tape, I didn't feel anything, I wasn't even paying attention to it." Looking at her hands, Max lightly ran her finger over the rim of the bottle. Over the last few years, she and Alec had had a few heart to hearts, but this was the deepest so fare, and Max knew it was getting deeper.

"What were you thinking about when I showed you the tape?" Alec asked watching as emotions past over her face.

"You know before I met Logan I didn't have this idea of only stealing from the bad guys, or always trying to do the right thing?" Smiling slightly she took a sip, "I didn't have a care in the world except for the next fence, newest parts for my baby or not to get caught. That was it. Then I met Logan and thought I'd give this whole 'do the good' thing a try, and I did. Whole heartedly, but as time went on I got so caught up in it I think I lost myself, became someone I wasn't, someone that was true. But being a stubborn bitch, I didn't acknowledge it until..."

"Until what?"

"You," she said lightly, "you came along and acted the way I did for so long, only you still helped make things right. That made me angry, I was jealous. I wanted to be that person again, I didn't want to have a care in the world, every person for their own. So to fight off that feeling, I'd focus on Eye's Only, T.C, yelling at you, anything. That helped, for awhile, but then we found the cure, Logan proposed and I found myself going through the motions, that I thought were right." A large swig of beer and gulp of air, "I realised I didn't want all these things I thought I did. I wanted to be the way I use to be, free."

"Max..." he paused not sure what he was going to say. "What were you thinking when you were watching the tape?" Max's head jerked up and stared at him with wide eyes, he hit something.

"You," she said lowly, looking at him straight in the eyes.


End file.
